


Rows

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Hogwarts Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-13
Updated: 2005-11-13
Packaged: 2018-10-27 01:17:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10798710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: What starts off as nothing more than an offhand (if decidedly thick-headed and callous) comment turns into a monumental argument and then... into something much more...H/G!





	Rows

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes: Dedicated to JennaMae, my favorite fluff-H/G writer of all time.  


* * *

What is wrong with me? she wondered. What was so truly and completely repulsive about her that she warranted such...

He was just so callous. Utterly and simply that. He was just so thoughtlessly careless and brooding and just- it was as if he didn't heed the outcome of his words. And not to give Harry Potter any undue credit, but Ginny Weasley would have him know that his words hurt. 

"Oh, yes," she muttered sarcastically, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Do grace me with your Highness's opinion of the type of boy I have dated. Please, Harry, I'm simply dying to know what about me suggests that I didn't deserve even Micheal Cornor!"

She stopped and it was as if an epiphany had hit her. Her eyes lit up and then darkened stormily. "Or maybe it wasn't me. Maybe it's just that Cho deserves Micheal. That if Cho Chang could ensnare Micheal, then how could Ginny Weasley be good enough for him? Tuh!" Ginny viciously kicked at the wall, biting her lip against the pain and scowling. 

She was charging down the corridor leading to Gryffindor Tower, her broom in hand and hair still messy from Quidditch practice. It had started out as a nice day, with great flying conditions and a couple really awesome plays on Ginny's part. But then Harry Potter had to go and ruin it, and of course he hadn't the decency to come after her and apologise!

"His Highness is above that," she muttered. "Can't bring himself on level with the peasants," she spat. "He doesn't care if he upsets anyone because he thinks he has a right!" Ginny screwed her face together in an expression of great distaste. "Well, Potter," she said to herself, leaning on her broom for a second as she waited for the stairs to rearrange, "Guess what? Facing Voldemort doesn't make you special- ."

She sighed in disgust, and shook her head. "I mean, I've done it, too. I wish you'd stop acting as if he's your burden alone...as if no one else's been hurt by the monster."

"Is that what you think?" a quiet voice said behind her.

Ginny whirled around and her heart pounded. A fierce blush heated her cheeks and her fingers tingled as she prepared to stutter an excuse. Then the casual dismissal the Team Captain had just paid her came flooding back, and Ginny lifted her chin defiantly. 

"Yes." she said stubbornly. "Why? Do you believe it's not?" Ginny rose an eyebrow in challenge.

Harry was staring down at Ginny with an unfathomable expression in his eyes. His hair was endearingly messy, and speckled with dust from the Pitch outside. His glasses lay askew upon his nose, his mouth a thin line and cheeks blotched with red. He had grown inches last summer, but this summer had seen only one change in him: he was even thinner than before. The crimson practice robes he wore hung in unnatural angles around his body, and his gloved hands shook. Ginny felt a guilty pang shoot through her as she contemplated that her anger was probably petty and misplaced in the face of the pain he was probably in.

* * *

Previously…

"Is that Micheal Cornor spying on us?" Ron was asking, squinting in the distance at the small crowd that was watching the team practice. "Glad Gin broke up with the dolt, right Harry? He's certainly not good enough for her 'specially if he's off to report team activities to his girlfriend." Ron flew a bit higher, nudging his friend with his knee.

"I dunno," Harry said absently, flying lazily in a circle, looking down at the Pitch.  "Cho Chang is still going out with him, is  she?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I dunno. I figured Micheal was a bit- below her. You know, she's only ever dated older boys."

"What about you?" Ron asked pointedly.

"That's different- she went out with me because I was- well-"

"You." Ron laughed and gave a hearty slap on Harry's back. "Well, if he's good enough for Ginny, then he's good enough for Chang."

"Somehow, I think Ginny and Cho are in two different leagues." Harry said mildly.

There was silence in the air as Ron digested this. Suddenly, a Quaffle went zipping past Harry's head. He turned round to tell off whoever sent it his way, and instantly froze. Hovering in the air, a very angry look in her brown eyes, was Ginny Weasley.

"Nice to know how I rate, Harry." And then she aimed her broom down to the ground, her hair flying down her shoulders. Harry was left in the air with his mouth hanging open in shock.

* * * 

Back in the Present…

Anger flared up in Ginny again. "So what?" she asked loudly. "You can't deny that you look down your nose at me!"

Harry's eyes clouded over. "What? I don't!" he protested, looking confused. 

"Oh, sod off, Harry. We all see those condescending looks...when you bother to even look at me!" Ginny squinted. "I really thought that after last year, you and I could possibly be friends. S'ppose you showed me how wrong I was, hmm?"

Ginny's eyes flashed and Harry's cheeks turned red. He seemed to be at a loss of words; Ginny had never yelled at Harry before, and she had a feeling he had no idea how to deal with her temper when it was directed towards him. Suddenly she felt drained.

"You know what, Harry? Just forget it. I'm surprised you even followed me- it's not as if I matter at all in the cosy little world you have there inside that enigmatic mind of yours, now do I?"

Harry's eyebrows drew closer together, his glasses glinting. "Is that what you think?" he asked again, except this time his voice had a dangerous quality to it.

"Prove me wrong," Ginny said defiantly. "I dare you."

"I DON'T HAVE TO!!!" Harry suddenly thundered. "I HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE TO YOU, GINNY WEASLEY! IF YOU WENT THROUGH A FRACTION-"

"I HAVE!!!!" Ginny screamed back, singularly unimpressed. "I HAVE GONE THROUGH A FRACTION OF WHAT YOU HAVE, HE POSSESSED ME! HE ALMOST KILLED MY FATHER, AND MY BROTHER AND YOU AND-" Ginny lowered her voice, her face red. "And he possessed me."

"You said that already," Harry said flatly.

Ginny moved closer, her face thrust up so she was almost nose to nose with Harry. "You listen to me, Harry Potter. Don't ever devalue the fact that I had that- that dirt in me for a year of my life. I had his voice whispering in my head, telling me what to do, to kill things and to...to do horrible things. I had his hands around my throat, those cold, cold phantom hands squeezing life out of me. While he told me he was going to kill everything I loved because it was my fault." There were tears in Ginny's eyes and a hitch in her voice. "You've been lucky to escape Voldemort, Harry," she said softly. "Because he killed a very important thing in me that night. Something- I don't know- love? Faith? Hope?"

Her voice broke and she stepped back, confusion painted on her expression. Her hands let go of her broom. The noise resonated against the stone walls, and Harry quickly looked down, his mouth working soundlessly.

"Ginny-"

:"What were we even- what were we having a row about?" Ginny gave a weak laugh. "I haven't thought about Tom in- in two years? Memories..." Ginny smiled. "Thye can haunt you, Harry." she said in whispered awe.

"Ginny." Harry instantly moved forward, holding out his hand unconsiously. His eyes looked terribly concerned, his anger gone in a flash. His fingers hovered in the air tentatively, before falling onto Ginny's shoulder. "Ginny?"

"Harry- I know my name." Ginny cracked a brave grin. "You- you started the argument. Don't back down now, I do so love a good row."

"I didn't want to row with you," Harry said earnestly."I never meant anything by that comment Ginny- I guess I wasn't thinking properly. I-I'm sorry."

Ginny straightened. "Are you sorry because you know what you're sorry for or because we mentioned Voldemort?" she asked accusingly.

"Er..." Harry furrowed his brow.

"Harry!" Ginny threw her arms up. "Look, I wasn't cross at you because you brought up Voldemort. Merlin knows he's on everyone's lips nowadays...I was cross because- because the way you did it just made me so...so frusturated. Harry, you just keep shutting me out! How can we be friends if I don't know a damn thing about you?"

Harry took a step back. "Is that what you think?" he asked in surprise.

Ginyn rolled her eyes and gave a wry smile. "I shall call you Broken Record Potter soon, if you're not careful."

"No- Ginny, do you really think that I'm shutting you out by saying that you can't know what-"

"Well, aren't you?" Ginny interrupted.

"No! Look, you can't, alright? I'm not saying that makes me better or more knowledgable or what, but I'm only saying that you don't know what I'm thinking! And I don't want you to! Ginny, the thoughts in my head sometimes..." Harry's eyes darkened. "I don't want anyone to know them. They're...they're not something I'm proud of."

Ginny ducked her head. The emotion in his eyes looked genuine. He looked properly abashed, but also desperate to explain. "I just- I want so badly to  just be your friend, Harry," Ginny said softly. "And this year, with Ron and Hermione off doing their duties, and you and I doing our Quidditch strategies...I felt we were. I felt I finally was a part of that world Ron built for me when I was a child, only ten, at home as he had adventures at Hogwarts. I felt like I was finally a friend of yours. Like I was...special enough. Not just Ginny, that girl who hangs around Harry Potter." She looked away. "And then I realize I've never really been your friend the way others have."

"Ginny-" Harry moved forward, pushing his glasses up. "You've helped me loads. If you weren't around this year, if you weren't my friend, I think I would've gone barmy." Harry said seriously. "I'm just- I'm not forthcoming at all anyway. I can't...it's not my nature. But it doesn't mean I don't respect you. You have- you have all of those things you said you lost, Ginny. You still have all of them, and the reason I'm glad you're my friend is because you help me see how wonderful it is to keep them. Faith. Hope." Harry's voice lowered. "Love." His nose was an inch away from Ginny's as she looked up into his eyes, both of their eyes masks.

"Yeah," Ginny said quietly after a moment, looking down. "You're right. But that's not what we fought about in the first place, remember?" 

Harry shook himself out of the stupor he had been in, his eyes still unfathomable. "Right. Well, you were extremely hacked off about something, and I-"

"I had a right," Ginny said hotly. "Don't you dare say you were an innocent party!"

Harry grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it. I deserved every insult on the face of this Earth for the, er, horrid thing I said...or did."

Ginny felt the anger drain out of her once again at the sight of his smile. Harry, for all his faults, really was sorry. He really was trying. And what he said, Ginny thought sadly, was pretty true. At least he was honest. There was no chance in this lifetime for Harry to want to move from Cho's "league" to Ginny's. It wasn't his fault...

"You know," Ginny said fondly, her throat tight, "You are incorrigible."

"I am that," Harry said, grinning even more widely when he saw Ginny relenting. Unconciosuly he moved closer. "Listen, Ginny- there's something I wanted to say, about what I said out there- if that was what made you angry."

"No," Ginny said dismissively. "Forget it. I understand, Harry. You and I are friends, that's all that's important, you wouldn't mean to hurt me, I know that-"

"That's just it." Harry moved even closer, his hand brushing hers. Ginny's heart jumped. Just a coincedence, just a coincedence, he's gonna apologize, he's not going to...

Harry tucked a finger under Ginny's chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. The green warmth of his eyes radiated with mischeif, determination, anticipation and fear. "I said what I did because I meant it whole-heartedly. You and Cho...you are two different leagues. But...why did you assume I meant that Cho's was a better one?" He said this lightly, his finger shaking. Ginny just stared mutely. "I- I think you're wonderful. And Cho- she needs to grow up, but you- you have. You've been there, you know what it's like. And you're still- you're pretty and popular and good and kind. I think I'd like to kiss you, actually."

Ginny just nodded.

"You asked me," Harry started, before leaning his head down, "To prove you otherwise, when you said I didn't have room for you in my own private world." His lips captured Ginny's then in the most surprising, warm kiss she'd ever recieved, if one of the clumsiest. It was still perfect.

"I have a lot of room for you, Ginny." Harry said slowly. "And if you'll let me, I'll make up every row we have like this from now on."

Somehow, Ginny had a feeling that she and Harry would make Ron and Hermione pale in comparison...


End file.
